Wirework carrier



1963 E. L. BLOOMQUIST 3,100,059

WIREWORK CARRIER Filed Dec. 27, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 gf/a.

5 fG/YER L. 15L 00114620157 Aug. 6, 1963 E. 1.. BLOOMQUIST 3,100,059

' WIREWORK CARRIER Filed Dec. 27, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 270 L M k 4 F i..- 23 2' if 6 wmwme LEG/V5? Limo/ 0157 52* I Arrows Er;

3,100,059 WIREWORK CR Egner L. Bloomquist, 1070 Pike Lake Road, New Brighton, Minn. Filed Dec. 27, 1960, Ser. No. 78,425 1 Claim. (Cl. 220-117) This invention relates to carriers for milk bottles, dairy products and the like and more particularly relates to carriers of the type used by milk delivery men for carrying and displaying dairy products.

An object of my invention is to provide a new and improved wirework carrier of simple and inexpensive con struction and operation.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a novel wirework carrier which provides for safe, rapid handling of bottles and product containers with a minimum of possibility of damaging such bottles or other containers.

A further object of my invention is to provide an improved wirework carrier which is extremely rugged in construction and which will stand up under hard wear in delivering milk and the like.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a new and novel wirework milk bottle carrier which will withstand substantial use, but which is light weight and is constructed to minimize the Wear on the delivery mans clothes as he handles the carrier and also to minimize the possibility of damaging floors and other surfaces upon which the carrier is placed or slid.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a novel and improved wirework dairy produce carrier which may be readily and easily fabricated with a minimum of expense.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to the same or similar parts throughout the several views and in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing the several important portions of the carrier;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view, partly broken away, of the carrier;

FIG. 3 is a section view taken at 3-3 in FIG. 2.

One form of the present invention is shown in the drawings and is described herein. The carrier is indicated in general by numeral and includes a frame structure 11, a main basket structure 12 and a supplemental basket structure 13, all of which are rigidly affixed together when assembled, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The carrier 10 is well adapted for use with glass milk bottles, particularly bottles of the half-gallon size which are generally rectangular or oblong in shape and for waxed paper milk cartons, particularly in the half-gallon size. The carrier 10 is constructed so as to minimize the possibility of breakage or tearing of such bottles and cantons respectively and so as to minimize the wearing eifect upon the trousers of the milk delivery man. Furthermore, the carrier 10 is constructed particularly to be lightweight in construction, but sufficiently rugged to withstand the usual abuse that carriers of this type are subjected to in day-to-day use. An important aspect of the carrier 10 is the fact that the carrier is provided with runner-like rods at the bottom to permit the carrier to be easily skidded along the floor in a truck or the floor of a householders kitchen without either damaging the do or or the basket or the contents being carried.

It will be seen that the frame structure 11 includes a plurality of elongate rigid rods 14, and 16 which lie parallel with each other and are attached to form skid 3,100,059 Patented Aug. 6, 1963 or runner-like supports for lying on a floor. The spaces between the rods 14, 15 and 16 are open and unobstructed so that only these rods engage the surface upon which the carrier is placed. The end portions 14a and 16a of rods 14 and 16 extend upwardly above the basket structure 12 and then inwardly in a diagonally upward direction and are actually joined together and formed integrally with each other at 17. It will be seen that the rods 14 and 16 are actually constructed as one continuous loop, formed in the manner indicated. The end portions 15a of rod 15 extend upwardly beyond the joint 17 at which point the end portions 15a are affixed to the other frame rods, and the rod 15 is turned back upon itself in an inward and upward direction and has loops 18 formed in the terminal ends thereof. A handle 19 extends between the terminal ends of rod 15 and an elongate bolt 20 extends through the loops 18 and handle 19 and is afiixed by not 20a.

The frame structure 11 also includes a top frame wire 21 which is endless and which is formed in a rectangle with one end portion 21a extending across and welded to the adjacent upturned end portions of the frame rods. The other end portion 21b of frame wire 21 extends beyond the corresponding upturned ends of the frame rods 14-16 to provide for mounting of the supplementary basket 13. A tie wire 22 extends across and is afiixed by welding to the other upturned ends of frame rods, and the opposite ends of tie wire 22 are looped around the opposite sides of trame wire 21 and are further a-ffixed thereto by welding.

The basket structure 12 will be seen to have a wirework construction with the interior of the basket divided into compartments. The bottom of the basket structure 12 includes a plurality of stiif but resiliently yieldable bridging wires 23 disposed in spaced and parallel relation with each other and overlying the frame rods 1416 in transverse relation thereto. The bridging wires 23 are welded to the fname rods 14-16 and thereby maintain the frame rods in predetermined and fixed relation with each other. The upturned ends 23a of the bridging wires 23 define opposite sides of the basket structure 12. The upper portions 23b of these upturned ends are all inverted U-shape so that adjacent bridging Wires 23 are interconnected and formed integrally with each other. The adjacent bridging wires 23 are actually formed of a continuous endless loop of Wire and it will be seen in FIG. 1 that the actual terminal ends of the wire-s defining bridging wires 23 are welded together at 24. The inverted U-shaped upper portions 23b of the bridging wires are affixed by welding to the frame wire 21. It will therefore be seen that all of the actual terminal ends of wires 23 are concealed at the weld-s 24- and there are no projecting ends upon which clothes or paper milk carton-s can be torn. A supplemental bridging wire 25 is provided between the centralmost bridging wires 23 with its upturned end 25a welded to the frame wire 21 and confined closely with the adjacent inverted U-shaped portion 23b.

The basket 12 also includes a stiff but resiliently yieldable side wire 26 which is rectangular in shape and which is continuous, which extends around the periphery of the basket structure and is Welded to the upturned ends or upstanding side wires 23a.

The bottom of the basket structure also includes a plurality of parallel and spaced bottle-engaging and supporting wires '27 which extend transversely of bridging wires 23 and which lie in parallel, but spaced relation with the bottom frame rods I i-16. The upturned ends 27a of the bottle-engaging wires form the ends of the basket structure and are welded to the adjacent portions of continuous side wire 16. It will be seen that because of the spaced relation between the bottle-engaging wires the wires '27 which causes a flexing 27 and the frame rods 14-16 which lie parallel thereto, the "bridging wires 23 will flex and provide a sprmgy support tor milk bottles which engage and are supported upon the wires 27 in the bottom of the basket. Likewise, the side wire 26 will flex slightly under downward movement of the ends 27a of bottle-supporting wires 27 as the milk bottles are placed or dropped into the basket so as to provide a springy support for the bottles and thereby minimize possibility of damage thereto.

The wirework basket 12 is also provided with a pair of compartment-defining divider wires 28 and 29 which extend across the interior of the basket 12 and have oppositeends looped around and welded to the continu- 'ous side wire 26. The divider wires 28 and 29 extend inwardly from the'opposite sides of the basket, and then are turned downwardly to engage and be supported by the bottom wires 27 in a U-shaped configuration so as itodefine upper central :portions 28a and 29a. An addiaional .wire 30 extends transversely of the divider wires 28 and 29 and has its opposite ends welded to the continuous side wire 26 0f the basket. The wire 30 engages and is aflixed to the intermediate portions 28a and 29a ofthe divider wires 28 and 29 so that in the basket portion 12 shown, the interior thereof is divided into six compartments. It will therefore be seen that the divider wires 28 and 29 are attached to the upper portion of the basket, but are self-supported at the bottom of the basket.

The supplemental basket -13 is seen to be of wirework construction and is aflixed by welding to the frame structure 11. The bottom wires 31 and 32 extend transversely of each other and are all affixed to each other .by Welding, 38nd the upturned ends thereof are affixed by welding to a side of ring 33. The upturned ends 31a and 32a of the wires 31 and 32 are welded to the frame wire 21, and the wire ring 33 is welded to each of the frame rods 14- 16. s

It Will be seen that a pair of attachment tabs 34 are afiixed to the frame wire 21 and a detachable display basket 35 is secured thereto by means of screws 36.

An additional top display basket, 37, which is generally circular in configuration, is attached to the bolt 20 by a supported wire 38 which is looped at 39 over the end of bolt-20 and is secured thereto by means of nut 40.

It will be seen that the frame structure 11 further has a diagonally extending bracing rod 150 which extends across obliquely oriented portions of the upturned ends 15a of frame rod 15 and is welded thereto in order to prevent fore-andeft wobbling of the frame structure.

In manufacture, the frame structure 11, basket 12, and supplementary basket 13 are all fabricated in the form shown in FIG. 1 and then are readily assem bled'by merely slipping the baskets 1'2 and 13 onto the frame'structure 11 to assembled condition as seen in FIGS. 2 and 3.

In the use of the carrier 10, the milk delivery men will .frequently have the carrier lying on the floor of his .truck adjacent the drivers seat, and when he is getting out of the seat to go up to a'house, frequently the driver will press down on the handle of lift himself off the seat. The frame structure of the :present invention, although light, is constructed to withstand this rugged abuse because of the arrangement of the frame rods 14, 15 and 16, particularly thediagonally related end portions thereof which extend upwardly t0- .the carrier toeitectively -ward the handle 19. The handle 19 is prevented from moving either iore-and-aft tor sideways in relation totthe general elongate frame structure 11. Tearing of the spot weld joints between the several frame wires is thereby prevented.

Generally before the carrier is removed from the truck .by the delivery man hewill exchange the empty bottles in the carrier for full bottles from his supply, and as the 4fl111-b0tt16$ are dropped into the basket, they engage of the bridging wires 23 between the frame rods 14, 15 and 16 so that the having upturned ends with upper portions 'of the top "frame ring 2 1wil'l shock of the dropping of a bottle is cushioned on the spr-ingy support for thebottles at the-bottom of the basket. The bridging wires 23 are maintained in spaced relation above the floor upon which the carrier rests to allow adequate room for this slight flexing. In the process of placing the bottles in thecarn'er, it frequently occurs that the bottles will engage and, atleast instantaneously,

rest upon or strike the .top portions of the compartment dividers. The divider wires 28 and 29 in-the instant basket construction are well supported from the bottom wires 27 of the basket and here again, some springiness as previously described will '%be effective when the bottles engage the divider wires. stantially *U-shapedarra-ngement prevent the adjacent bottles in next adjacent compartments from engaging or r smashing against each other.

As the delivery man-leaves the truck and walkslup 7 to the house, carrying the carrierlll at his side, the carrier is likely to brush against his trousers, but [the elongate un'dbstnuctedfr-ame wire 21 guides the carrier along his pants leg and prevents any therewith. The inverted -U-shaped upper pontions'23b unobstructed spaces will be caused to the 'flooras a result of the forward skidding motion. Furthermore, if the floor has any obstructions therein, the skid-like :frame rods the carrier 10will effectively not engage the obstruction and the contents'in the carrier will notbe badly jarredas a result. Furthermore, the obstruction is kept away from the articles or'milk bottles in the carrier so thatno damage occurs tothe milk bottlesor other containers therein.

It will be seen that additional baskets and otherdisplaying media can be readily and easily attached to the carrier 10 inthe fashion of'basket 35 and 'basket37. In the several baskets and compartments of Ithecarrier, the 1 various products being sold by the delivery man can pleasingly displayedso as to entice the customer into making additional purchases.

It should be noted that the invention, the endless top frame wire 21 may be conand 16 so that the end portion'zlb lies in the position of mental basket '13'maybe jdet-achably secured to the frame structure 11 by means securing the display basket 35 The end 'portion 212;

the upright rods 15a, 14a and 16a and will be provided with additional tabs 34 to which the supplemental basket 13 may be detachably secured.

It will, of-course, "be understood that various changes may be made in the dorm, detail, arrangement and pro-. portion of the parts without my invention, which consists of the .matter described departing from the scope of herein and set forth'in the appended claim. What i claim is:

A wirework carrier for milk bottles and .the like, coini prising a frame structure having a pair of speed and. substantially parallel framehrods to lie upon a door and onally inwardly and upwardly and'beingfformed integrally with each other, a (third 'framerod lying midway between The divider wires in their sub entangling of the carrier 1 l '14, !15 and 1s will readily pass over the obstruction in the floor and in a slightly modified form or the upright ends of the rigid rods 14, 15

.In this arrangement a willbe welded diring 33 spaced above the similar to those employed ,for

be disposed inwardly of bent diagand parallel to said pair of rods, said several rods defining unobstructed spaces therebenween, said third rod having opposite ends turned upwardly and afiixed to the ends of said pair of rods and then being turned back upon itself in a diagonally upward direction, a handle afliXed between the terminal ends of said third rod, a wirework opentopped (basket afiixed on said frame rods and between the upturned ends thereof and maintained in spaced relation above the floor, and a top frame wire extending around and affixed to the upper periphery of the basket and extending across and being affixed to said .frame rods at a position below said upper portions thereof, whereby to confine and protect milk bottles and the like.

DeLong Oct. 22, 1912 Hatch Nov. 3, 1925 6 Lee Dec. 12, 1933 ODell Dec. 31, 1935 Wurster et a1. Aug. 4, 1936 Mooter et a1. Nov. 14, 1939 Faulkner Aug. 19, 1941 Geralds Dec. 12, 1944 Buhoveckey May 31, 1949 Gudmumdsen Nov. 8, 1949 Bitney Feb. 12, 1952 Rudd Aug. 12, 1952 Russell July 211, 1953 Averill Oct. 25, 1955 Adams June 25, 1957 Beadle Sept. 24, '1957 Averill Feb. 2, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS Switzerland Mar. 1, 1950 Great Britain Jan. 6, 1960 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,100,059 August 6, I963 Egner I... Bloomquist e above numbered patpears in th nt should read as rtified that error ap d Letters Pate It is hereby ce tion and that the sai ant requiring oorrec corrected below.

"speed" read spaced Column 4. line 71 for and sealed this 28th day of January 1964.

Signed (SEAL) EDWIN II. REYNOLDS ERNEST W. SWIDER Commissioner of Patents AIIesIing Officer Ac t i ng 

